Project’s all about safety at USA Hockey Arena

Newly installed boards and glass, including this curved piece at the bench, will prevent concussions at USA Hockey Arena. Here, players try out the new-look facility on the NHL-sized rink; the Olympic-sized sheet is in the middle of its revamping.(Photo: TIM SMITH)

Look out, hockey fans sitting in the front row this season at USA Hockey Arena.

That first heavy hit into the Plymouth arena’s brand new glass-boards combo likely will catapult large beverages off the ledge and into their laps.

“When people hit it you can see it move,” said Paul Fassbender, of the arena’s maintenance department, pointing out the ready-to-flex boards and acryllic glass that last month were installed at the building’s smaller rink — where the U.S. National Team Development Program’s two teams compete.

“The people in the front row, the first couple times, they’ll get some entertainment,” said Fassbender with a knowing nod, explaining that a beverage cup won’t stay put when the crunching bodychecks arrive.

Last week, Fassbender and co-workers were busy finishing putting the new boards up at the former Compuware Arena’s bigger, Olympic-sized rink. The new ice will be made this week after which glass panes will be ably slipped atop those boards.

Fassbender is no stranger to hockey rinks. He coaches Saline High School’s varsity team and previously guided teams at Plymouth and Ann Arbor Pioneer.

Heavy duty

These days, he is all in on helping USA Hockey maintain a state-of-the-art ice plant, complete with safety features that are intended to cut down on concussions and other serious injuries.

Fassbender pointed to a spec sheet for Part 2 of the current project. There will be 119 pieces of glass to be installed, weighing a total of 27,764 pounds.

“We’ve been fortunate because we got to do it two times in a month, month and a half,” he continued. “This one went so much faster than over there.”

The arena upgrades are part of a growing trend led by the National Hockey League, to reduce concussions and other major injuries suffered when players hurtle at high speed into the boards and glass.

“We upgraded for all the safety that the NHL’s been pushing, for concussions,” Fassbender explained. “So we revamped, pulled out the old boards that were 20, 22 years old. heavy, steel boards, and we went with these alumimum frames.

“They have the flex points in them, flex glass. Boards will give more. You’ll actually see the movement of the boards when people get hit into them. It’s supposed to help with shoulder injuries, concussions and be a little softer of a feel when kids are sliding into them or getting hit into them.”

Paul Fassbender is in the home stretch of finishing off the Olympic-size rink at USA Hockey Arena.(Photo: TIM SMITH)

Safety first

The need to ensure safety is a big priority with USA Hockey, too.

“Safety is a top priority for us at USA Hockey Arena for whoever is on the ice,” said Mike Henry, arena manager. “The fact that both rinks are now compatible for sled-hockey is an added advantage and is within USA Hockey’s mandate to grow the game at all levels.”

Sections of white-covered boards near player benches can be swapped out for clear sections to accommodate sled hockey. Essentially, players can ramp on and off the ice without fear of hitting the kickplate that runs around the ice perimeter.

At the NHL-sized rink where the U.S. NTDP Under-17 and Under-18 teams play, Fassbender pointed at another important new feature — a flexible sheet of curved glass where doors open from the ice to the players’ bench.

The innovative feature hopefully will prevent near-tragedies such as one in 2011 where Montreal player Max Pacioretty slammed into the turnbuckle, breaking his neck and suffering a severe concussion.

“They’re spring loaded,” Fassbender explained. “So when you hit that the whole glass moves, plus it’s acryllic, so it’s softer. That’s one of the great features of this whole system.

“When a kid’s getting into the boards here, you’re not going to have something that takes their head off.”

Ice time

Fassbender said putting the ice in is routine stuff by comparison, something that is done every summer.

“We start by doing a couple coats of clear (ice) to get 1/16th of an inch on top of the concrete,” he said. “And then we’ll go three coats of white (paint) on top. ... We have a big boom that has 15 sprayers on the back. And you walk it, you literally walk the ice in a pattern. It’s like spray painting a deck.

“We do three coats of the white paint to give it the solid white look.”

There is a method to the madness of laying down various lines, dots and circles that USA Hockey Arena fans can see from their seats, too.

“We use red and blue yarn, stretch it across where the red lines and blue lines are,” Fassbender continued. “We freeze those in, and then we have someone come through and paint them by hand with a four-inch brush.”

To cap it all off, several more coats of clear ice are put in until the surface is about 1 1-2 inches thick.

“We have an ice dam, which is the first inch and a half, and then there’s a seam where the boards sit on top,” Fassbender noted. “That’s where it gives it that flex point, so we want to avoid any ice buildup getting underneath in that seam.

“Ice as it builds up will expand. Then it will push the boards up, so we have to make sure we maintain our inch and a half depth.”

That’s good, because the new boards at USA Hockey Arena will be rocking enough already during 2016-17.

USA Hockey Arena’s pro-sized rink already has a newly painted ice sheet surrounded by the first new boards and glass since the building opened. The Olympic rink is in the midst of a similar retooling.(Photo: COURTESY USA HOCKEY)